- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 29 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details and costs of any programmes of conversion to the Euro being undertaken within the NHS.
Answer
The NHS in Scotland is carrying out a measure of pre-planning for the possible introduction of the Euro as set out in HM Treasury's Second Outline National Changeover Plan published on 9 March 2000. The costs of this ongoing exercise are contained within normal running costs and cannot be separately identified.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 28 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Health Education Board for Scotland will be integrated into a new joint structure with the establishment of the Public Health Institute of Scotland.
Answer
The Public Health Institute's identity and role will be separate from, but complementary to, those of the Health Education Board for Scotland and other relevant organisations.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all non-departmental public bodies which have ceased to exist since May 1997.
Answer
Between May 1997 and June 2000, the following non-departmental public bodies have ceased to exist:
Advisory Committee on Dental Establishments |
The Potato Marketing Board |
Scottish Agricultural Consultative Panel |
Scottish Childcare Board |
Scottish Community Education Council |
Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum |
Scottish Council for Education Technology |
Scottish Seed Potato Development Council |
Scottish Water and Sewage Customers' Council |
The Advisory Committee on Dental Establishments was reconstituted as the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce (which is not an NDPB).
The Potato Marketing Board and the Scottish Seed Potato Development Council have been superseded by the British Potato Council, a body which covers the whole of Britain and on which Scotland is represented.
The remit of the Scottish Agricultural Consultative Panel was subsumed within the Hill Farming Advisory Committee.
The Scottish Council for Education Technology and Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum are undergoing a merger to form Learning and Teaching Scotland.
The Scottish Water and Sewage Customers' Council has been replaced by the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland. The Scottish Community Education Council has been reconstituted as Community Learning Scotland.
Health Trusts, which are NHS Bodies and not strictly NDPBs, were also reconfigured in 1999 reducing the number of Trusts from 47 to 28.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether organic food has greater health and nutritional benefits than non-organic food.
Answer
I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that there is not enough scientifically proven information available at present to be able to say that organic foods are significantly different in terms of their nutritional content from those produced by conventional farming.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria have to apply for food and drink to be accurately labelled "organic".
Answer
I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that minimum standards for organic production are set down in a European Community Regulation (Council Regulation 2092/91).
In the UK, a body called the UK Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS) ensures that the Regulation is properly applied by the various UK bodies which register and inspect organic farmers and processors. All food sold as organic must come from growers or processors who are registered with one of these bodies. Imported organic food is subject to the same checks and guarantees; importers must also be registered with one of the UK bodies.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reimburse health visitors and community nurses for car use beyond the current 10p per mile for cars using unleaded petrol.
Answer
The Scottish Executive, along with the other UK Health Departments, is undertaking a Joint Review of Section 24 of the General Whitley Council Handbook which covers mileage and travelling allowances for all NHS staff.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure an increased uptake of donor cards and to increase awareness of individual's intentions with regard to organ donation.
Answer
We are presently finalising arrangements for a short TV filler advertisement which we hope will catch the attention and interest of TV viewers in Scotland; help raise the profile of this important issue; and encourage people to think seriously and talk openly about the possibility of allowing their organs to be used to help others after they die.
I know that in the Scottish Parliament there is a great awareness and interest, across all parties, in the promotion of organ donation. It would be invaluable, therefore, if the Scottish members could lead by example and join together to help publicise this issue in Scotland. I shall be writing out to all Members soon inviting their participation in promoting organ donor awareness.
The Scottish Executive is keen to encourage and support, where possible, initiatives to promote organ donation. We have supported various promotional activities in the past and are always open to considering new and innovative proposals. We are also, as a matter of course, involved in the ongoing provision of supplies of organ donor leaflets and information in support of individual independent initiatives.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, given the current unavailability of beds due to "bed blocking", reducing the total number of NHS beds in the longer term can be justified, in particular with respect to the intended reduction in bed numbers from 1,029 to 894 on transferring services to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Answer
The NHS in Scotland keeps the number and mix of hospital beds under review to ensure that appropriate health services can be delivered to the people of Scotland in the light of changing patterns of treatment and care.
The Scottish Executive believes that the problem of delayed discharges should be tackled systematically by the NHS and local authorities working together, and has allocated an additional £10 million of recurring funding to local authorities for that purpose. This sum is over and above the £60 million recurring funding, allocated to health boards in June to enable them to accelerate the delivery of national and local priorities, of which a total of £9 million is being used by boards and Trusts specifically to tackle delayed discharges.
The planned bed numbers for the new Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh are based on target levels of performance, determined by clinicians, and agreed between the health board and Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust. The health board recognises that plans must be flexible, and that if experience indicates that the proposed balance between hospital and community services requires to be adjusted, then that will be done.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 22 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the #2,580 annual unitary fee per 1,884 registered/list patients (Medeconomics, June 2000, page 86), is sufficient to cover health promotion in relation to smoking, alcohol problems, strokes and heart disease.
Answer
The current arrangements, as detailed in the general practitioners Statement of Fees and Allowances (SFA), allow for a GP to be paid £2,580 per annum, for local Health Promotion activities as agreed annually between the GP and Health Board/Primary Care Trust, pro rata per 1,884 registered/list patients.
In addition to these payments, GPs provide health promotion advice as part of General Medical Services and the fees and allowances which they receive are designed to reflect such activity.
Together, the current level of payments provide substantial resources to cover health promotion activities.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 20 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the number of HIV cases in Scotland is, including the percentage increase over the past three years.
Answer
Details of the number of HIV cases to the end of 1999, both new and cumulative, can be obtained from the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) annual report issued in April this year. This can be located at the following web address:
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/scieh/infectious/aidshiv/aidspdf/annualreport2000.pdf
